Wednesday, December 23, 2009

It's been a quiet December and now comes the holiday. My love and I will be together again, though not home together in Toronto (yet). That being the case, I'll be far too busy and happy to be blogging for the rest of the year.

So let this entry be an end to the notes for 2009. It's been quite a year - my busiest ever in relation to this blog. I hope the pace I set will continue into the new year. I enjoy sharing immigration news with you all and I hope that its a blessing to you.

God willing, the new year will see me writing all my entries from Toronto - but this is something we just can't know right now.

God bless you in your personal immigration story in the new year. As Red Green always said: "We're all in this together - I'm rootin' for you!"

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Yes, it's the Christmas season. That means I'm busy with holiday plans and plans to see my love. We have made some forward progress, with an interview to be scheduled for the two of us in Buffalo. While it would've been nice to simply be approved, sometimes with complicated situations like ours, they want to talk to you. That's OK: we'll talk.

So it'll probably be quiet here most of the rest of this month, but I'll get back onto the blogging in the New Year. I hope yours, dear readers, is a beautiful one and that all of OUR immigration dreams come true in it.

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

New Democrat MP Olivia Chow (Trinity-Spadina) inquired in a House of Commons committee meeting today about the nearly 50 per cent refusal rate for spousal applications from places such as China, western Africa and Hong Kong.

She was told that the government's immigration ministry believes that these marriages are fake - and potentially an effort back by organized crime. The question is: is this solely a concern in immigration from countries with visible minorities?

"Globally we do have a problem of marriages of convenience, commercialized, fake marriages to get into Canada," (immigration minister) Kenney said.

But where is the substantiation? Is there the same focus and refusal rate for, say, eastern European spousal applications? Applications from Italy? From the US? Or is this just an easy excuse for a ministry under pressure to keep immigration numbers down in 2010?